For the seventh year in a row, property taxes will rise again in Los Angeles County, thanks to a brisk real estate market and construction boom.
The assessed value of all taxable property in the county jumped by 6.03 percent in 2017, which was slightly higher than last year, figures released Thursday show.
Every city in the county saw property values rise, said Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang.
The net value of the county's nearly 2.4 million properties totaled $1.4 trillion — almost $81 billion greater than in 2016.
"The good news is we've had 7 years of growth which means that property tax values are growing at a good rate," Prang said. "As an economic indicator this demonstrates that Los Angeles is very strong in residential and commercial properties and people are buying here."
Under Proposition 13, passed by California voters in 1978, the assessed value of a property cannot increase by more than 2 percent unless the property is sold. The majority of residential property owners in Los Angeles County will see about a 1.77 percent increase in the value of their homes, Prang said.
A city-by-city breakdown will be released later this year, but the Westside's growth is increasing faster compared to other areas, according to Prang.
"The bad news is for those looking to buy a home or invest in property, prices are going up," he added.
Prang delivered the assessment roll to John Naimo, the county's Auditor-Controller, who then applies the annual tax rate to the assessed value of individual properties and submits the data to the county Treasurer and Tax Collector. Those offices then mail property tax bills to property owners and collect property tax revenues.
Prang said the taxes collected are disbursed and used to fund schools, roads, public safety, and other local government services.
"The work that we do in the Assessor's Office provides the foundation for the property tax system that results in funding for critical local government services such as education, public safety, healthcare and infrastructure improvements," Prang added.
Los Angeles County has almost 2.4 million taxable real estate property parcels in addition to 172,000 business properties, 26,300 boats, and a little more than 3,000 aircrafts.
The county's assessor's office is the largest public assessment agency of its kind in the nation.
